The Escort and the Princess
by Kid Canter Greatly
Summary: A short series of younger characters in Halloween Town working towards the most exciting night of the year- Halloween. The story revolves around the young vampire Jackson, who not only has to keep his fellow vampires satisfied with the little effort he puts into his work, but also keep his social life in line, along with trying to woo the town's innocent Princess.
1. Chapter 1

A.N.: Hello, I'd like to take a moment before you continue to warn you that the content is a little... racy. I'm still a little unsure of how to rate these stories, and I'm a little worried that a T-rating may still be a little low. If you feel that this story is rated a tad too low, I'd appreciate a message telling me to do so, otherwise I will keep the rating here. I might raise the rating later, but right now, I'm going to keep it at this level. Thank you. -Ashley

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Keeping his head low to the ground, Jackson rushed back to his home before the sun arose once again. His gums ached with hunger and his eyes were with heavy with a lack of sleep. He shouldn't have been out so late, but he didn't want to be the one to miss Lock's "bloody brilliant" party that everyone had to be at. He drank too much and spent too much time ignoring his empty stomach to keep himself preoccupied with the girls in the short skirts.

Another one of the vampires was at the door, watching Jackson with beady eyes as he entered dusty home without explanation. The eyes stared daggers into his back as he stalked upstairs to the room that held his coffin.

Barrel's loud, obnoxious voice still rang in his ears. "Fuck, man, you're fucking great", which seemed to be his favorite phrase as he took a few shots that one of the skinny witch girls gave him. Barrel was a good guy and all, but Christ, he was a loud mouth.

He had the taste of a girl in his mouth that wouldn't leave him be all night. A friend of Shock's. He didn't usually see her around for the most part. She wasn't cute by any means, but hey, if a girl wants a quick screw in the bathroom what was a boy to do, right?

The vampire he met when he walked in was in the doorway now, tapping his long fingernails on the doorframe. "You were supposed to stay here."

Jackson ignored him, putting on a pair of Sunglasses and peaking through the crack of his curtains to the sun rise.

"Halloween is four weeks away and we're not nearly ready." The other vampire growled.

"Fuck." Jackson groaned, turning away from the Window. He had a hell of a lot to do to avoid the Pumpkin King. He didn't want to actually do anything though. Last year he convinced Shock to do everything for him, but she's been busy with her own Halloween plans. He was going to have to stay up to satisfy the others.

"Since your duties aren't your priority, you're going to run errands today so we won't interfere with your nightly plans." The elder vampire stated dryly.

"Are you fucking kidding me? I spent one night out and now I have to go out in the daylight? I'm already drained and starvin-"

"If you had stayed in like we told you to, you would have been fed and we could have ran the errands last night."

Jackson groaned again, slamming his hand on the desk beside him.

The other vampire spoke again, "I understand you are young. We have all been young once, but you have responsibility. You are loyal to us. And now you must take the punishment for your actions. The boxes are next to the door. Take them to town hall and then straight to the tailor. Understood?"

Pushing past the elder, Jackson grumbled profanity under his breath. He pulled up the collar of his white button down and started down the stairs. He hated going out in the Sunlight. It was even more draining and he would end up feeling burnt for the next few days. It was ridiculous.

He pulled on the gloves he had in his pocket along with the sleeves of his shirt down to cover his pale arms. He grabbed a wide-brimmed hat from the coat rack. He grabbed the boxes from the ground, which were heavier than the looked. This was going to be an annoying and long walk.

When he opened the door, a wave of nausea overtook him. The sun was up and bright. He grabbed a parasol and tucked it under his arm as he stalk out.

It wasn't likely to be busy in town during the day, considering most, much like himself, were creatures of the night. There were very few that passed him as he made his way to town hall.

When he struggled to open the door, he found not only the mayor, who he was expecting to only have to deal with, but Jack Skellington and his wife, too. If it wasn't bad enough that had to deal with the city official, now he had to deal with the irritatingly arrogant king as well.

"Jackson! Long time no see!" Jack grinned.

"Hi." Jackson sighed. He didn't want to stay and chitchat.

"Where have you been? I have seen the others from time to time, but you never seen to be with them!"

"I'm very busy." Jackson snapped.

"Of course, aren't we all!" Jack got a laugh out of both the mayor and Sally.

"Yeah." Jackson didn't let even the slightest smile cross his lips. He was already annoyed and every second that passed made his anger boil more and more.

The door opened behind him and a girl with long white hair walked in.

Jackson had definitely never seen her before. There's no way he would have missed her.

"Eve, sweetie! You made it!" Sally smiled.

The girl nodded stepping a few steps past Jackson, who watched her. She was pale, nearly white, with bright red cheeks and large, darkly circled eyes. She was pretty, beautiful even. He tried to check her out, but failed as she was hidden beneath a poofy black dress.

"I'm sorry, I got a little lost." The girl said quietly.

"Eve, honey, this is Jackson. He's resides within the vampires coven." Jack motioned his hand towards Jackson, who was putting the boxes before the mayor. "This is my daughter, Eve."

Jack turned to the girl, who was a few feet away from him. "Hey."

"I like your sunglasses." She smiled.

This took Jackson a little off guard. "I... Thank... you?"

"We're going to present her at the Halloween festival this year, as we believe she is ready to be released to the public!" Jack giggled excitedly.

That would explain why he had never seen her. The had her locked away from public eye. God, they were such freaks.

"I have to get going." Jackson mumbled, opening his parasol.

"It was nice seeing you again, Jackson." Sally smiled.

"It was a pleasure to meet you." Eve bowed her head slightly.

Caught off guard again, Jackson nodded back. "Same to you."

Stalking out the door, Jackson's chest felt heavy again. The sun hurt, but his mind was caught on the sun this time. He couldn't get that black dress, or what was under it, out of his mind.


	2. Chapter 2

Managing to make it up the tree unconventionally, Jackson ended up in Lock, Shock, and Barrel's tree house. He found a mess of bottles and debris covering the floor.

Barrel was on the couch, fast asleep, snoring loudly. Speak loudly, snore louder? He crept up to the sleeping boy and covered his mouth. A few seconds later, Barrel bolted up, a look of horror on his face.

"Fuck, you asshole."Barrel punched the laughing Jackson, who couldn't contain his laughter. This caused an annoyed Lock to walk out to the living room in only his boxers.

He groaned when he saw Jackson. "You were here like an hour ago, you ass. Why are you back?"

Jackson shrugged. "I was in the neighborhood. Figured I'd drop by to visit my dear friends." He slapped Barrel's shoulder, who punched him in the leg.

"It's like nine in the morning, dude. The sun is out." Barrel rubbed his eyes, looking to the light that barely shined through a dusty window.

"I ditched my elders to be here last night. This is punishment."

"Tough break." Lock yawned, scratching his head. "Look, go home. I don't really feel like staying up all day."

"I have to tell you something, though. Something you'd really be interested to know."

"Oh really." A tee-shirt clad Shock walked in, standing beside Lock, wrapping her arms around his waist. A knot welled in Jackson's stomach.

Ever since he met her, Jackson was hopelessly stuck on Shock. She was gorgeous, not to mention incredibly sexy. Especially those long legs she had. That was probably the biggest reason Jackson hated Lock so much. The asshole managed to grab her first, even though he still managed to get away with sleeping with half of Halloween Town.

"Yeah…" Jackson began, "Jack has a daughter." He smiled a devious smile. "And she's hot."

"Well, duh, Sally's hot." Barrel interrupted. He was into the… Older ladies. Jackson rolled his eyes.

"You don't say." Lock smirked. "I wouldn't have guessed." The devil rose in his yellow eyes. Lock was a thief of innocence. There's no way this girl would be anything but.

"She's going to be presented on Halloween." Jackson laughed, taking a seat next to Barrel's feet.

Shock rolled her eyes. "How boring. She's going to end up weird like Jack and Sally."

"I'm sure she has to have some rebellious streak in her. If she's anything like her mother." Barrel grinned.

Jackson nodded. "It's true."

"Huh." Lock pulled away from Shock. "She must be bored. And lonely." Lock was getting excited, Jackson could tell. And so could Shock, according to the look on her face.

"Come on." She said, pulling Lock's hand. "Let's go back to bed." She started to walk off, her hips swaying. Lock smiled, chuckling to himself.

Jackson watched Shock off, mesmerized by her body. Christ he wished he was Lock.

"Get out of here, Jackson. We'll call you up tomorrow." Barrel grumbled, kicking the vampire in the hip. "Go to fucking sleep."

Jackson nodded, standing up. He could get home and finally get some sleep. And maybe when he woke up, he could figure out how to see Eve again.


	3. Chapter 3

As night fell again, Jackson awoke tired with an even worse hunger. He pushed the lid of his coffin up, find himself enveloped in the darkness. He sighed, knowing his elders were going to have something tedious and time-consuming to keep him busy tonight.

He hated being stuck working so much for them. It's not like a vampire actually had to do anything to be scary. A blood-sucking monster before a group of children would be horrifying enough. Why did they have to work so hard?

The door to his room opened up, and the shortest of his elders stood in the door frame.

"Jack has sent for you."

Jackson raised an eyebrow at him. "Has he now?"

He was a little nervous that maybe on of the others said something to him and he would be lectured on the importance of Halloween. It seems likely.

"He has requested you for the rest of the evening, in fact."

Ugh. This was going to be a lot worse than he had originally thought.

"Any particular reason why?"

"He didn't say."

Jackson stretched up, finally managing to stand up in a tired, nauseous state. "Can I grab a bite first?"

The other shrugged.

Jackson sighed. He was going to have a long, long night ahead of him.

"Welcome Jackson, I'm glad you could make it!" Jack grinned as he opened the door to his house.

"Hi Jack."

"I desperately need your help with something."

Jackson narrowed his eyes a bit.

"You're the only person her age that Eve knows-"

Eve! Jackson gave a half smile. She had slipped his mind in the hour it took him to get ready and finally eat something.

"And I was curious if you wouldn't mind being her escort on Halloween for her presentation ceremony."

A full crooked smile spread on Jackson's lips. Jack was practically handing her to him on a silver platter.

"There's a lot of planning involved with this sort of thing, and I know the Vampire coven is very busy this time as we all are, but I would think-"

"It's no trouble, Jack. I'll be honored to do it." Jackson said, his voice like velvet.

"Fantastic!" Jack clasped his hands together. "I knew you'd do it! I would like to invite you inside, of course, to become better acquainted with my little princess. It's no doubt the two of you will be spending a lot of time together."

Devilish thoughts raced through Jackson's mind, all heating his body in a way unusual to a vampire. Oh, how much fun he would have with this. Such an innocent and ignorant girl would be fun to play with. The young vampire strained to keep himself from exciting himself too much.

He followed Jack through the doorway to an open area, where in a corner, Sally and Eve sat, drinking tea in two high-back chairs. Eve's long hair was braided loosely behind her. She looked some-what like Sally. She had her thin face and figure, but Jack's height. He never thought about it before, but how exactly did the Rag-Doll and the Skeleton manage to produce her, exactly.

Eve's face brightened a bit at the sight of Jackson.

"Hello, Jackson." Sally smiled, standing up.

"Miss Skellington." Jackson bowed his head a bit.

"Go ahead and take a seat. Eve, darling, serve our guest some tea." Sally smiled to her daughter.

Jackson sat in the chair Sally was in and watched as Eve slowly poured the tea.

"We'll be upstairs if you need us." Sally smiled. Jack gave her a bewildered expression, only to be met with a stern one. The two stood there for a few moments, staring at each other, only to have Jack slump his shoulders in defeat. The two started up the stairs as Eve handed Jackson the tea cup.

"Thanks." Jackson smiled taking it from her. He didn't really have any interest in drinking it, but he took a slight sip, appalled by the taste.

"I appreciate you stopping by for a visit." Eve said slowly. She was a tad awkward, but Jackson couldn't exactly blame her.

"No problem. I wasn't really interested in working on Halloween stuff anyway."

"I feel like that's all I do." Eve smiled a small smile.

Jackson's mind kept racing, his imagination running rampant.

"What more, though, of the daughter of the Pumpkin King himself?"

"I suppose."

"That wasn't very reassuring."

"It's all he talks about. Halloween, Halloween, Halloween." Eve sighed, taking another sip of her tea.

"It is coming up, after all." Jackson shrugged.

Eve also shrugged. "I know."

Unsure of how to respond, Jackson changed the subject. "So, what am I supposed to do with this whole escort thing?"

"You're going to help me with almost everything to get ready for Halloween. My father has a list of things you're to teach me and aid me in."

Ugh, so much work to get to see what is under that dress of hers.

"Huh. Seems reasonable. Are you excited?"

"Yes. Maybe I'll be able to me more of the townspeople."

Jackson laughed. "You're not missing much."

The two laughed together.

"I'm happy you agreed to escort me, though. My father was going to do it, but the Mayor kept suggesting to find someone else. I mentioned you last night when he brought it up again. And my mother agreed. He's still a little... undecided. But, it's understandable. I am his only child.:

"He has nothing to worry about. I'm decent." Jackson laugh maniacally in his mind.

"I'm sure you are."

There was a knock at the door, and Jack, who was supposed to be upstairs, bolted to open it a split second after the third knock.

The skeleton opened the door to a green-skinned old woman. The town's tailor.

"I'm here for the girl's fitting." the old woman croaked, pointing to Eve.

"Was that today?" Jack said, his tone confused.

The old woman simply nodded, walking in to the house. She wasted no time, ignoring the fact that Jackson was there and the protest Jack was about to begin.

"If you want the dress done soon, I must get her measurements as soon as possible. Otherwise the work I put into it will not BE satisfactory. I refuse to run such a business."

"I'm sorry, Jackson. Will have to do this another time. Possibly tomorrow? Unless you're busy of course." Eve said, a little disappointed.

"No tomorrow is good." Jackson smiled, standing up.

"Thank you again." Eve smiled as she stood up. The old women was already getting ready to do the fitting, giving Jackson no opportunity to say more before he was sent out by Jack.

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A.N.: Hello readers, I'm a little concerned that I'm doing something wrong here. I'm just curious if there's something a little off with this story. I'm not too sure if I should continue with the publishing of this particular work or to continue it. I'm just curious if there are some who are enjoying this story and wish I would continue it. Otherwise I'm going to scrap this and possibly continue with other of my works or post other one shots I have written. I would like to finish this story in particular, but if it seems more realistic and appealing of me to simply post one-shots instead, I would greatly appreciate it. I would appreciate any feedback on the matter. Thank you. (:


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